User Reviews

Solid portrayal of Yakuza life that quickly drew us into Kenji Yamamoto's character. Michihito Fujii brought modern perspective through cliché-ridden gangster crime and family drama. Ayano left huge impact with such emotional performance mostly in second half.

Everything had changed.

A young man being taken into a yakuza group at a young age was put into prison. 14 years later, he came back and everything had changed.

The first half of the movie was pretty alright. It showed the life of our main character before and during his time as a yakuza. The problem was that we knew very little what exactly the yakuza business was. The movie only showed our main character at a club that he's in charged of, and not much else behind the scene. The yakuza do a lot of corrupt and dirty stuff, and not much was shown here.

Another problematic aspect was the main character's romance with a college student. I know that the movie wanted to show that our yakuza was awkward, but the romance had little screen time and felt weird and rushed.

The second half became significantly better. It showed an unforgiving view of the yakuza in modern time. I couldn't help but feel terrible for our main character even though he was a yakuza. Becoming a yakuza in the modern age is like a taboo, and one is destined for loneliness.

The theme of the movie was about the downfall of yakuza compared to the past in terms of philosophy and views by others. It is the type of movie that glorified the once notorious character whose life spiraled apart and found his old job the only thing he could cling into. It's similar to The Wrestler or The Wolf of Wall Street. Here, the only thing our main character could cling to was his family, the yakuza family.

Overall, despite the decent first half, the second half made for one of the most unforgiving movie I have watched this year. 8/10.

It's fantastic but if you are expecting a action movie you are knocking on the wrong door, This movie is more about human fragility. It shows you the thin line between success and failure, reminding you change is everlasting while our past is haunting.

This movie is surprisingly pretty good for a Yakuza film. I don't usually like the Yakuza genre because they usually glamorize Yakuzas without showing faults, which this movie didn't. Also a lot of Yakuza movies are kinda cheesy with over the top action and characters.

This movie is two genres mixed into one, and for the most part it works. The first half is a crime thriller, and the second half is a drama. The issue is that the length is a little bit too long, and the pacing for the second half is not as good as the first. This movie reminded me of Yakuza Kiwami 1 and Yakuza 0.

Imagine the first half of "A Family" being Yakuza o, and the second half becomes Shenmue 1.

Overall the acting is pretty good, lots of crying during the second half, maybe a little melodramatic but it works. I just wish a good 15-20 minutes would had been edited out to make this movie flow better. At 2 hours and 20 minutes, it is just a little too long.

7/10.

It is the 18th Directing of 34-year-old young director Michihito Fujii. The young director combined his experience with the comfort of netflix and turned a cliché subject into a spectacle.

I don't really know how yakuza living in japan right now, but if I assume from this movie, there is really big discrimination for people who wanted second chance to change their life. I had watch documentary about yakuza who opened ramen shop because community rejected all of them and they can't work like ordinary people.

If what happen in this movie was true, I can't even think how to make a living, It's so terrible.

I watch so many gangs, mafia, yakuza movie, all of them telling about how cool their life with brotherhood, loyalty and luxury. But this movie talk about the truth how yakuza experienced nowdays since their era has passed. This was the best yakuza movie that have a huge impact after I watch it. It so good, and the feel and emotion was real.

I think this movie have to take part in movie festival, the world need to know that yakuzas isn't just about brotherhood and crime.

I recommend this movie for people who wanted the other side of the yakuzas.

I thought the movie was wonderful. The second part especially was cinematically breath-taking and really managed to capture the grey sadness of the reality of Yakuza life in a changing world that no longer gave them the respect or position they once had. The mafia/yakuza life is definitely not glorified, and, even though the protagonist doesn't come across so well in the first half of the movie, you really end up empathising with him in the second half. In the end, he is a tragic lost character whose life became a sacrifice to an institution that ceased to exist. You could probably say the same for a lot of his other 'brothers' who also play their roles really well.

I gave the movie a 7. I probably would have rated it even higher if it wasn't for the acting in some parts of the movie, which came across as a little cliched and cringe. Regardless, I would highly recommend this movie.

Just as most yakuza movies, this one also possesses the same core themes such as family element, betrayals, illegal businesses, fights and aura of luxury, however, it's just a small portion of "goods" that make this movie good, or rather - brilliant.

What makes it so good is how all these qualities that are mandatory for yakuza movies are portrayed. Instead of hearing verbal "we are family" you can feel it. It also stays grounded and showcase the struggles that yakuza have experienced and are experiencing nowadays. It feels like a documentary (due to the attention to the details that make this story realistic), yet, it compacts so much emotion (hence, it being a drama movie, rather than action).

I have watched at least 60 yakuza-related movies and this one is my favourite. It is a must watch for both, people that are interested in the topic and people that like powerful dramas.

Gave this movie a 10. Now, I never give 10's but I'm trying to offset this ridiculous 6.9 score. But it's a legit 8.5.

The acting is superb. The story line totally original and captivating. For anyone reading this review, it's not a feel good movie. It's heart wrenching to say the least. But it's raw man. It's one of the most legit movies I've seen all year. It's not like a Guy Ritchie or Tarantino gangster flick. And it's not the God Father either. If I had to compare it to Hollywood , I'd say more like Donny Brasco or Good fellas. But it's a really a quite unique take on gangster movies. I don't ever leave spoilers so all I can say is it is dynamite. I will find out who Directed this movie and check out more of his work. Thank goodness for some good reviews or I would have passed it up. This is not one to miss.

Honestly very depressing but good movie I don't understand the low score.

A tragic but Beautiful story told about a yakuza member, at the end of the movie i had tears in my eyes. Definitely worth watching.

I really recommend everyone to watch this. I never thought I wouldn't get bored for a 2hr movie... it's not the typical yakuza gang story that you watch every time. The content is true to life though I have no idea about yakuzas but this movie kind of helped me understand their background.

This could have been/should have been a great movie. That it isn't is down to the total lack of charisma shown by the lead actor. This was one of the most appalling performances that I've ever seen. Totally unable to communicate with other good actors in the story or generate any warmth or sympathy for his character. Remake this with somebody half decent as the lead, plz.

It's a fantastic but very depressing movie esp near the end it gets really really dark and sad. This is a drama about a Yakuza family and a story telling the end of the Yakuza. Don't expect a gangster story, a rags to riches action movie etc. The one part I'd criticise is the romance subplot which was done pretty poorly and sorta rushed..

Well written, acted, and directed. It's slow but the characters and story kept me interested throughout. I wasn't expecting it to be that good. This movie deserves a higher rating. The way it all wrapped up was harsh but perfect. Give this one a watch!

I'd say it's one of the best yakuza films I've ever seen. The only other films that would even compare are those of Beat Takeshi.

Even though it's only 2h 16m long but it feels very slow, but it's very worth it to watch I don't want to give any spoilers but the ending was a bomb.

I can feel the family-ness of the yakuza, the acting and dialogue were amazing, it delivers all the emotion. You can see the progression of every character.

Very good movie. Highly recommended.

What a movie! A lot of layers to this movie, really amazing piece of cinema, calmly told story of great magnitude, touching, very interesting. I loved it.

I have to admit, this movie surprised me with its individual and kind of modern view on yakuza and the genre. Michihito Fujii sets up an impressive cinematography at a slow dramatic pace with an intense acting and story. This film takes you somewhere deep into the torn but unbroken heart of yakuza giri and won't let you get away with it so easily.

Very glad I watched this today, absolutely top notch acting and cinematography.

Heartbreaking but also very beautiful.